Sweeping Up Soot
by Squeaker-Dee
Summary: Life was bad enough for him stuck in Victorian London, cleaning filthy chimneys for a living. But, now he is stuck in Central, without any way of getting back or making any money. Oh, isn't life just a boat for the sweepers.


Anything FMA related belongs to H/A OCs and story belong to me.

Enjoy.

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**Chapter One: In The House Of London, To The Streets Of... Somewhere.**

_Normal POV:_

It was late evening in the Lloyd household. The man of the house-or the "big boss" as house maids preferred to call him-stood impatiently at the golden brushed door of his mansion, glancing down at his pocket watch for every second they were late. He had been waiting for a while, his old, withered face growing more dry as he waited out in the frozen air of London.

However, after what seemed to be hours of waiting, they had finally arrived, with the oldest among them showering good, strong discipline on them as they came towards the household. Mr. Lloyd smirked, as three children scurried towards his door, with scrubs in their hands. The tallest among them stepped forward, a long, thin brush held in hand. He tilted his cap up at Mr. Lloyd, showing him his yellow hair. "Evenin' sir, sorry 'bout bein' late, we just been on another job, see" he said politely hoping not to get a shouting from the richest man on the street.

Mr. Lloyd looked down his nose at the boy, who seemed no older then fifteen years-old. The man's gray and dull eyes then fell down onto the two shorter children behind him. One looked much like the blonde, except he wore no cap to hide his long, filthy curled hair. Both of the blondes wore mucky white shirts, a brown waist coat, brown trousers and brown shoes, that were worn out at the toe. The third and final boy, right at the back, had dark brown hair that was tucked away in his leather cap, he to wore a shirt, waist coat and shoes, only his trousers were different as they were much shorter than the other boys, reaching to his distorted knees.

"Yes," Lloyd begin, pushing the door open and watlzing inside as soon as. The eldest blonde sighed a little, before turning to the younger boys, a scowl on his face. "If we don't get paid _again_, Mister Ewer's ain't gonna be keepin' us anymore, you better make up to it, all right!?" He snapped, re-adjusting his cap on his head again. Both of the younger males nodded eagerly, clutching their black scrubs in hand as they followed the eldest inside.

Once the three boys were inside, they were shown through many different hallways, around different rooms, until they reached a grand dining room, filled to the brim with golden dishes. The maid-who had shown them around-guided them past the cutlery, down the length of the glass table and up to the fireplace at the far end of the room. The maid snorted as she pointed at the chimney.

"Big boss sez you are t' do this chimney 'ere, said 'e wants t' see no soot when 'e gets back, else he ain't payin' ya', got it?" She snarled, spinning around to face the boys.

The eldest nodded. "Right then," he whipped his around around to the young ones. "Whose goin' up first!?" Immediately, the two boys rubbed the soles of their feet, remembering the pain of being jabbed with sharp needles every time they stopped in tight spots of the chimney.

"What if it gets too narrow Peter?" The young blonde complained, just as soon as the maid left them to do their business. Peter scowled at the blonde, punching him on the head. The young blonde let out a yelp and the brown haired one shuffled away.

"You'll get your little butt up that chimney whether you like it or not! Now get up there James!" He roared, pointing a finger at the fireplace. James gulped hard, scuttling over to the fireplace. He turned back to Peter. "Can't I 'ave the sweeper?"

"No, you can't! Use the scrubber I gave you earlier, you should be grateful I'm not makin' ya' use your 'ands!" Peter yelled in his face. James sent Peter a quick scowl before clambering up the chimney's walls, scrubbing at them all the while. Peter was stood at the bottom of the fireplace, looking up t James as he climbed. The blonde held a long metal pole in his hand, which had a sharp point at the end, this was the needle he used when he decided that the boys weren't working hard enough or they didn't climb high enough.

Meanwhile, the brown haired boy stood in the background, waiting for his turn to get in the chimney. He knew it wouldn't take long, since he was a lot thinner than James, so he could squeeze into the tighter spaces of the chimney with ease. He coughed hard, bringing his fist up to his mouth as he did. This wasn't uncommon for him, he would always cough in or out of the chimney, it didn't matter, he just did. Sadly enough for him, he couldn't afford to get any medication for it, he just had to put up with it. Like he had to put up with a lot of things.

"Oi! What have yer' stopped for!?" Peter jabbed James's foot with the needle, hard. "Get up that chimney or I'll push you up!"

"I can't--Its to... It's too tight!"

"Rubbish!" Peter jabbed him again, James yelped. The brown haired boy slapped his hands over his ears, not liking to hear the pain come from the other boy. His green eyes clamped shut and he shook his head a little.

"Oi, Mark!" Peter snapped, catching the boy's attention. The green eyed boy let his hands drop a little, looking up at the blonde. Peter nodded his head at the chimney, before stabbing James with the needle, yet again. Mark coughed hard, clutching his scrubber, he approached the fireplace. Peter stepped aside a little in the fireplace, giving Mark room to slip past him and climb up to James. It never accrued to Mark that James hadn't come down yet, he simply thought he was called up to give him a push, not expecting what was coming next.

**_Stab._**

"Ow!" Mark screeched, looking down to find Peter pointing the needle at him now. He wanted to snap back at Peter, but he knew where that would lead him, so he choose to ignore it and climbed up until the top of his head was inches from Jame's rear. Mark prodded the blonde in the leg, causing him to look back down at him. "What d' bloody 'ell are _you_ doin' up 'ere!? Didn't 'e tell you t' wait till I got back down again" James snapped, a tone of worry in his voice. Mark shook his head.

"Nah, dunno why. 'e jus' said fer me t' come up 'fter you" He explained, putting his hands on the back of Jame's thighs. He pushed him. "You better get goin' up there, Peter will stab us 'gain if you don't"

"Stab you you mean, can't reach me, can 'e?"

"... But-"

"Its too tight up 'ere, you tryin' t' kill us!?" James yelled down at Peter, who stabbed Mark in the foot again, since he couldn't reach James. Mark yelped. James growled. "Stop 'urtin' 'im!"

"Then get moving! You 'eard what the maid said, we wont get paid if we don't finish, so _move_"

James muttered something under his breath. Mark whimpered in pain. The young blonde pushed his foot against the side of the chimney, forcing himself to climb higher up, with Mark following in close pursuit. The pair of boys then scrubbed hard at the walls, soot fell around their bodies, invading the newly formed cuts on the balls of their feet and scratches from climbing up the walls. They worked in silence for a while, except the occasional shout from Mark after getting stabbed again.

The silence was broken after a while of scrubbing by James, who had found something rather odd carved into the wall of the chimney. "What 'd bloody...?" The blonde traced his fingers gently around the carving. He took in a long gasp of air and tried his best to shift around to face Mark in the tight space. "'ere, Mark!"

"What?"

"Someones come on up 'ere and drew a picture in d' wall"

"... What?"

"Yeah, look at it," he pressed a finger against it. "It looks like some sorta circle, with lots of... stuff 'round it too" Mark squinted his eyes, just managing to look past Jame's body to see part of the image on the wall. "What's it for?" Mark asked suddenly, looking at James, who shook his head slowly.

"Dunno," he began, scrubbing his brush against it. "Like it maters, 's not gonna get us out o' 'ere, is it?"

"... I s'pose" Mark glanced back, down at Peter, who-thankfully enough-had finally lowered the needle and was using it to rest on as he watched the boys work. Mark could have sworn he saw Peter's eyes grow very wide at them, like he saw a ghost. Mark shook it off and began to scrub at the walls he was trapped between, when a sudden scream stopped him from his work. It was from James.

He looked up at the blonde, finding that he had stopped scrubbing and was staring at the drawing before him, which had started glowing. Mark looked past him and gasped at the sight he saw afterwards. He tugged on Jame's trouser leg and pointed up the chimney. James followed the finger and grinned at what he saw, what he thought he saw. Hope.

It was a door. A giant door, with a yellow light around it, not too far away from them. It was like the chimney was been cut in two or expanded since it somehow managed to fit a door of such great size inside.

"What... is that fing?" Mark asked, looking at James for an answer. James turned back to him, smiling. "A way out," he replied, with a glimmer of light in his blue eyes. Mark flinched.

"What? You're gonna go-"

"Oi! You two!" Peter yelled, holding the needle up to them again. "Get your arses down 'ere! Get away from it!"

"James..." Mark turned to the boy, only to find him scrambling towards the door. Mark wanted to scream, only for it to be muted by another chesty cough. He noticed as James got closer and closer to door, it opened, with hundreds of staring, evil eyes inside. Mark reached for James with one hand, his other covering his mouth as he continued to cough and cough and wanted to scream for James, he really did, he just couldn't.

Something then echoed from the door, it was completely unreadable, but it wasn't good, whatever it was. Suddenly, long, black arms shot out from the doors, swarming down the chimney, gripping onto anyone and anything inside, including Peter. The three boys and their sweeps were all pulled harshly into the door's mouth.

Mark tugged on the arms as best as he could, trying to pry them off himself, failing miserably.

"Mark!"

Mark looked back, finding Peter trying to reach for him, an angry look on his face yet no weapon in his hand. Lucky. But that wasn't something that was really worrying Mark, it was that little black creature he passed as he was pulled inside the door. He just caught glance of its smirk.

_"Let's see what payment you'll give for your little escape, hm?"_

The boy couldn't make any sense of it. Payment? Escape? What did that little person mean? However, Mark had little time to figure it out as he was dragged into the dark abyss. He didn't know where he was going or why, he just hoped that he was going somewhere, that scared little chimney sweep.

---_POV of a sweeper---_

A door. I saw a door. A great big door, with hands in it.

Cor, the bloody 'ell is _that_ all about?

I found myself sprawled out on the ground, outside somewhere, as I woke up from a very weird dream. I patted my hand around, feeling a cold, bumpy surface beneath my fingers. It _was_ ground, I knew as much, but it sure weren't the grounds of London, that ground is gritty and horrible. But the ground here was a lot smoother and much more gentle to my leather-hard skin (being a sweeper, its no wonder why my skin was that hard).

I pushed myself up, so that I was sat up and able to look about the place with much nicer grounds than London. I blinked. This place didn't look familiar, not in the least. I scratched the back of my neck, the soot still covering my body and irritating my skin.

"That figures, would end up out on the blinkin' streets wouldn't I!?" I snarled, slowly getting up onto my feet, not wanting to damage the soles anymore then the were. I put a hand on my hip. "Dis' is all Jame's fault, isn't it?" I spat to nobody, rubbing the back of my head, pushing my cap forward a little. "Wonder where 'e is anyway..." I glanced down at the ground, catching sight of something.

"Oh?" I bent down, finding a sweepers' broom beside me rather than the scrubbers I was "fond" of using. I grasped the broom's long handle and stood it beside myself, using it to help keep me standing. "Where am I anyways?" I glanced around, seeing no familiar building or anything about.

"West End o' London? How the... How did I get all t' way down 'ere? Weren't 'ere before, were we?" I arched a brow upon catching a passer by in my sights. It was a tall man, wearing some sort of blue uniform, walking down the path on the other side of me. I choked a little as I held back a cough as I ran over to him, broom still held tightly in my hand. "'scuse us mister!" I yelled, grabbing the man's attention.

The man looked down strangely at me, like he was wondering why I was in such a mess, dunno why anyone would be wondering that like, chimney sweeps are pretty common nowadays.

"Don't 'appen t' know where I am do you, sir?" I asked politely, worried if Peter was lurking nearby, watching me. Speaking of Peter, whatever happened to him? The broom I was holding was his wasn't it? I shrugged it off, grateful that I wasn't in Peter's presence anymore. It was then that I noticed that the man was looking at me even stranger now, it wasn't making me too happy to say the least.

"C'mon, please sir! I need t' know where I am so I can find m' way back t' Mr. Ewer's place" I pleaded, my misshaped kneecaps wanting to break under my weight. I didn't want to be outside for too long, especially when I needed to see what happened around Mr. Lloyd's house.

"You're in Central, kid. Why don't you know?" The man bent down so he was eye-level with me. "And why are you in such a mess?"

I snorted, holding back my laughter.

Cor, blimey! You gotta be pullin' me leg!

"That's a funny one sir, never 'eard a joke like that before" I chuckled, getting a serious look from the man. I swallowed a harsh cough. He didn't know, did he?

"I'm a chimney sweep, sir. Don't you 'ave any 'round 'ere like?" I asked, the man looked a bit taken aback. What? I were tellin' the truth.

"A "chimney sweep"? Kid, what did your teacher tell you in history?"

"Teacher? Oh no, mister, I've never bin t' school" His eyes widened a little.

"You've never been to school?"

"Yes sir, don' 'ave 'nough money, see, family's poor so I gots t' make up m' money cleanin' de' flues"

The man rose back to his height, running his hand through his black hair. It was surprising actually, his hair were almost darker then the soot I had to clean up. "But, to receive an education doesn't cost anything, how can you not be going to school or at least have gone to school" He muttered, looking up and down the streets as he did. I waved a finger at him.

"You've gotta be bloomin' mental, with all due respect sir, only the rich folk go t' school" The man arched a brow at me.

"What are you talking abo-"

"Colonel!" A voice called, I whipped my head around to see a shorter man run up to us. His hair was dark, just like the other mans and he wore square framed glasses. I sighed.

_I musta ended up in d' rich end o' town, no many o' u can afford glasses, not at my end anyway. _

The man-"Colonel"-turned to the man running up to us. "Sergeant Fury, what's the matter?"

The man-Fury-stopped before us, panting as he did. He bowed a little, his hands resting on his knees. "Sir, its Scar, he was just spotted fighting Fullmetal and-"

"Fullmetal!? Where is he now!?"

"He's safe, we came just in time, but Scar is still about"

I looked back up at the Colonel, finding that he had an _extreme_ serious face on. Before I knew it, he started speaking gibberish at the sergeant, pointing own the street as he did. The sergeant somehow managed to understand all of this and ran back off down the street.

I managed to find my legs again and rested the broom along my left shoulder. "The bloody 'ell were that all 'bout? I couldn't understand a bloomin' word you were sayin' there, sir, what's all 'dis "Scar" fing 'bout den? On-top-o'-that, where exactly is dis' "Central" place anyhow? Is it the Central O' London or somethin'?"

The Colonel looked down at me and before I knew it, I was being dragged down the streets after him. I squirmed around in his grip, trying to tug my wrist free. "Oi! Dis' is kidnappin'! I know you'll be able t' get away with it since I'm d' rat o' society, but it still ain't right!"

"I'm taking you with me to Central Headquarters, then we can phone your parents up and have a talk with them"

"Talk? With _my_ pop's? 'bout what?"

He glanced at me over his shoulder, surveying my appearance, which wasn't pretty in anyone's eyes. My tanned skin was ridden with black soot. My hair was long and sticky and anyone could tell that, even when I tucked most of it up in my cap. My shirt, waist coat and three-quarters were covered in filth. My toes poked out of the holes in my shoes, alone with my heels too. My green eyes had a tint of yellow in them from past infections I got living in the bins. And, to finish it all off with a bang, my ears are huge(but luckily they don't stick out too much).

"First I'll have to check up with Fullmetal and his brother. Then I'll call your parents, we need to talk about the state you are in"

I looked down at my feet. "Cor, mister, I can't look _that_ bad now"

He sent me a skeptical look. I pouted. "Well, its normal too look like this where I come from, mister"

"Call me Roy"

I tilted my head to the side. "Roy? Kinda name is _that_? Everyone I know called Roy is a power-hungry-job-obsessed-nutter, who wants t' make me mop up their flues for 'em!"

"Flues?"

"De' chimneys"

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I couldn't resist! I was inspired by Mary Poppins since I got the movie on DVD for Christmas and I love the chimney sweeps, so I did my research and came up with this.

Please review X.


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